[Thriller]

Okay, so we get to the park at 10am to find out that Drop Zone, Hurler, Top Gun, and Borg are out of service. An hour later, all are still out of service. Borg opens secong after hurler, and still only one train. Ride was ok as always, so after leaving we wanted to ride Top Gun...still down! Vortex was still down along with Drop Zone. Carolina Cyclone was open so we rode and had a pretty good time on it. Thunder Road was next and all four trains were operating and the ride has gotten much better and it seemed to me that the speed was much faster and provided and good ride. Finally Top Gun opens, but only with a one train operation. Wait time was 15 minute...WTF? Hurler was awesome and the attendents seemed to be better, but for the rest of the employees at Wings, Rip Roarin Rapids, S. Star, and Cyclone, they all need a re-training course in hospitality and work procedures/policies. This has been the first time I have been to Carowinds and left feeling like the park disapointed. We made it fun, but this trip was a 4 out of 10. Cedar Fair needs to do some work and get this fixed.

[CoasterDad]

Be sure and post your comments on the Carowinds official site, where it states, CONTACT US. Don't expect an answer, usually, but you should write anyway. We've been to the park about 18 times in the past two years, but have never experienced everything down, but almost. Most parks have their share of young and inexperienced help - good help is hard to find - anywhere. Still no excuse for it, but I've seen it everywhere, except at the Disney parks...

Next time will be better!

[coasterbruh]

Okay, so we get to the park at 10am to find out that Drop Zone, Hurler, Top Gun, and Borg are out of service.  An hour later, all are still out of service.  Borg opens secong after hurler, and still only one train.  Ride was ok as always, so after leaving we wanted to ride Top Gun...still down!  Vortex was still down along with Drop Zone.  Carolina Cyclone was open so we rode and had a pretty good time on it.  Thunder Road was next and all four trains were operating and the ride has gotten much better and it seemed to me that the speed was much faster and provided and good ride.  Finally Top Gun opens, but only with a one train operation.  <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Wait time was 15 minute...WTF</span>?  Hurler was awesome and the attendents seemed to be better, but for the rest of the employees at Wings, Rip Roarin Rapids, S. Star, and Cyclone, they all need a re-training course in hospitality and work procedures/policies.  This has been the first time I have been to Carowinds and left feeling like the park disapointed.  We made it fun, but this trip was a 4 out of 10.  Cedar Fair needs to do some work and get this fixed.

This is an all-time low! You...are actually...complaining about a <span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>15 minute wait time</span>! Congrats you are officially a Coaster nOOb!

[kewlaidkiddd]

I hate fifteen minute wait times for top gun. We do pretty well with timing our trips to the park without having to wait any longer than 2 loads full. But it was unbelievably long this past Sunday.

[Thriller]

Excuse me, but when only the station has people waiting to ride (it was not lined down the stairs), 15 minutes is a while to wait. 1 person was loaded into our row because the 3 people in front of us did not want to ride, so we had to wait once more for a full circuit. If I only waited about 15 minutes to ride borg, than Top Gun should be no more than 5 minutes. So screw off!!!

[KenB]

Top Gun's wait was MUCH worse later in the day. I got to the park around 1-1:30, and this was the only one of the above issues that I noticed. The Flyers line only went to the first switchback, so only took 3 cycles to get on - not bad for having to park out near Top Gun - i.e. fairly crowded.

Then I got in line for TG as I was waiting for my friend James to get to the park. Thought it wasn't bad for a crowded day, with the line not quite filling the first switchback of the lower queue. I realized about the time I was headed up the stairs that they only had one train on, the red one. Took about 45 minutes to get a ride, which was exacerbated by the fact that they weren't properly filling the train, and went out with empty seats on my row 3 times while I was in the station. This must've been a mechanical issue, since they had plenty of ride ops. Since I started going to Carowinds again in 2001, this is only about the 3rd or 4th time I've seen Top Gun either down completely or only running one train. It's rare, but it does happen.

Elsewhere in the park thing seemed to be running pretty well - BORG had both trains on, and didn't seem to have too long a line. We still skipped it, opting to do Drop Zone which oddly neither James or I have done this year, Hurler, Thunder Road, Rip Roarin' Rapids (which I haven't ridden since probably early 2005) and the "new" Southern Star.

Hurler was VERY nice up front, with solid airtime on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th hills - the 3rd one just doesn't seem to get any anymore even when it's running well. An oddity was a strong pop of air on the 5th hill or was it the last one - anyways, one of those at the end that's usually weak. The upstop wheels were spinning madly on the brake run.

Drop Zone was it's usual fun self, with the park-side car being much better than the one facing the boneyard. I still like this one better than the bigger versions. On to Rip Roarin' Rapids, where I got SOAKED. Got some good waves into the boat, quite a bit of spinning, and it was quite fun aside from being that wet when it wasn't really that warm outside.

On to some backwards T-Road to dry off. This is running as well as it has in years, and seems to have picked up a good bit of speed since opening day. Several strong pops of air, no squealing, and it didn't seem to die out on the return run like it used to. Based on the good rides I've had on all 3 woodies this season, the fears of CF ruining the wood are so far totally unfounded.

And finally, Southern Star. The restraints aren't the male torture machines they used to be. Not perfect, but much better. Different views from it's new location, which took a bit of getting used to. They went over twice on our cycle, plus had a nice stall while almost going over, so I got some very good "reverse airtime" on it. The new location seemed to assure a full boat every time, which is a far cry from the last several years as Frenzoid. I'm quite glad we got this ride back in the park, now that I've ridden the "new and improved" version with the friendlier restraints.

My only real complaint would be the closing of the South gate. It used to be easy to hop on TG for a last ride, head out that gate, and get to my car parked nearby. Now, I have to head to the front gate, trudge across the parking lot to almost the South gate, and try to remember the row number of my parking space. It takes a lot more time, and I think they're going to annoy a lot of people by closing the South gate except on certain Saturdays. They can't be saving THAT much in labor costs by closing it. If nothing else, have it open as an entrance ONLY, with no guest services or ticket sales. Then SP holders and people with pre-purchased tickets could use it at least.

I'll give them credit again, though, for making the entry process MUCH easier and faster. The last several years, even with both gates open, it could often take 30 minutes to actually get in the park due to the slow-moving lines through the metal-detectors as everyone dumped their keys and change, etc. out and retrieved it. Now, they use the metal detectors more logically, and only check your bags, fanny packs, and pockets if the detector actually goes off. This gives nearly the same speed as not having the detectors at all, while still allowing them to screen for actual weapons.

KenB

[borgstinx]

cedar fair duz awesome